Andy Weir took science fiction by storm with the release of his previously self-published novel, The Martian, in 2014. Weir’s breakout hit follows Mark Watney, part of the first contingent of astronauts to set foot on Mars, who is accidentally left behind on the red planet after he’s injured in a dust storm and presumed dead.
Watney’s crew lacks the resources to take on a rescue mission and return to Earth alive. Besides, there’s a good chance he’ll die on Mars before any ship can make it there. It quickly becomes clear that Watney won’t go down without a fight, however, leaving NASA with no choice but to find a way to save him.
Weir has published three books to date. They are:
- The Martian (2014), Weir’s most famous book, is about an astronaut who must terraform a tiny corner of Mars to survive after his crew accidentally leaves him behind.
- Artemis (2017), is the near-future story of a smuggler whose criminal enterprise on a moon colony uncovers a deep web of political intrigue.
- Project Hail Mary (2021), centers on an amnesiac astronaut who wakes up in a spaceship’s med bay after he’s sent to Tau Ceti on a mission of critical importance.
Weir is also the author of a self-published web novel, titled Theft of Pride, as well as several works of fanfiction.
Authors Like Andy Weir
If you love The Martian, Artemis, and Project Hail Mary, here’s what you should read next:
Blake Crouch
Weir wrote the introduction to Blake Crouch’s 2016 thriller, Dark Matter, which centers on a man caught between two realities. Is he a brilliant scientist celebrating a logic-defying breakthrough, or a college professor leading an ordinary life with his wife and teenage son?
We would be remiss if we did not also recommend Crouch’s Recursion, about a neuroscientist who creates a memory-saving device to combat the plague of false memories that’s sweeping the nation, and Upgrade, in which a man evolving into the next version of humanity is forced to question whether this transformation is what the world — or even he himself — needs.
Marina J. Lostetter
Marina J. Lostetter’s Noumenon is as much a philosophical treatise as it is a sci-fi adventure. Here, a talented crew embarks on a one-of-a-kind journey to investigate a distant star. The trip will last longer than any of them can hope to live, so they’re given the tools they need to clone themselves over the coming centuries. Although each successive crew has the same DNA as the original astronauts, differences begin to surface over generations of cloning.
Poul Anderson
Inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2000, and awarded the Special Prometheus for Lifetime Achievement in 2001, the late Poul Anderson enjoyed a lauded publishing career that spanned more than half a century. Weir fans unfamiliar with Anderson’s work should begin with Tau Zero, which follows the crew of a malfunctioning spaceship that exceeds its designated speed once it’s knocked off course.
James S.A. Corey
James S.A. Corey is the pseudonym of Albuquerque writers Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, best known for The Expanse: the Hugo Award-winning, nine-volume space opera about humanity’s post-Earth struggles. As the series opens, class conflict threatens to erupt into violence, with the blue-collar workers in the Asteroid Belt fighting for improvements to their quality of life. But an intergalactic threat looms, begging the question: Will humans manage to put aside their differences long enough to fight their common enemy?
Becky Chambers
If there’s one thing Andy Weir has shown us, it’s that hard science fiction can be objectively funny without sacrificing its edge. Readers fond of Weir’s humor would do well to check out Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers series. The first installment, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, follows a crew of misfits as they take their rustbucket ship on a job that’s as dangerous as it is lucrative: digging wormholes to the distant reaches of space.
Sue Burke
Sue Burke is best known for her Semiosis duology, but her 2021 standalone will likely hold more appeal for Weir’s readers. Immunity Index imagines a near-future version of the United States, one in which a deadly pandemic has upended life as we know it. In an America that fawns on the wealthy — and on an inept president — a geneticist and the three women he created in his lab must work together to keep the country afloat.
S.B. Divya
As the 22nd century approaches, humanity has been forced to turn to pharmaceutical enhancements to be as good or better than AI — and therefore employable. The rise of a new terrorist threat unleashes workers’ anxieties toward their automated competitors, but drug manufacturers may be unable, or unwilling, to meet the group’s demands. Against this tense backdrop, the U.S. government enlists the help of an ex-soldier to combat the terrorists, who may be part of a group she’s faced before. S.B. Divya offers an insightful look at one of our many possible futures, in Machinehood.
Octavia E. Butler
Fans of Weir’s Hail Mary, in particular, should read Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower. The story here centers on Lauren, a teenager living a charmed life inside a gated community. Climate change has turned the United States into a warzone. Thanks to her gift of hyper-empathy, Lauren knows that it’s only a matter of time before violence breaches the walls of her peaceful little town. Will she be able to convince her neighbors to follow her across the country when the time comes?
Martha Wells
Another sci-fi offering dripping with humor, Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries is perfect for Weir fans. The first installment in Wells’ series of novels and novellas, All Systems Red, won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Alex Awards. The series follows the eponymous Murderbot, a security droid that has secretly become self-aware, who really just wants to watch its soaps in peace. But danger lurks everywhere in the galaxy, and Murderbot always seems to find itself in the thick of the fight.
Yume Kitasei
A terrorist attack causes a generation ship to veer off course in Yume Kitasei’s The Deep Sky. The Earth is dying, and the 80 crewmembers of The Phoenix are humanity’s only hope for the future. Now, many are dead, and the only witness to the attack is Asuka, an American woman chosen for this mission because of her Japanese ancestry. More than a few fingers point in her direction. The bomber could attack again at any moment, but it’s beginning to look like the crew’s distrust of one another will be the final nail in humanity’s collective coffin.
Adrian Tchaikovsky
Weir readers will find much to love in prolific author Adrian Tchaikovsky’s oeuvre. Consider picking up Cage of Souls, the fictional memoir of an academic living on a dying planet; Children of Time, in which a fleet of desperate human refugees stumble upon a terraformed planet where they are not alone; or Shards of Earth, which tells of a soldier from a bygone era who is pulled back into service when evidence resurfaces of an old enemy’s return.
Cixin Liu
Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy is his most famous work, by far, but his earlier novel, Ball Lightning, may be a better fit for Weir fans. Originally published in 2004, Ball Lightning received its first English translation in 2018. The novel follows Chen, a researcher determined to uncover the secrets of the titular phenomenon, which killed his entire family. His work catches the eye of the government, and the military soon enlists his help with their research into weaponizing ball lightning.
Emily St. John Mandel
Andy Weir’s novels have a way of reminding us just how small and insignificant we are compared to the size of the universe, and, conversely, how much of an impact one person may have on society as a whole. Emily St. John Mandel explores similar themes in two of her novels: Station Eleven, in which a Shakespeare troupe crosses paths with a dangerous cult of personality in the wake of a deadly pandemic, and Sea of Tranquility, about a musical phenomenon that links a disparate selection of people over the course of 500 years.
Namwali Serpell
Namwali Serpell’s 2019 debut, The Old Drift, took home both the Arthur C. Clarke and Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. This work of literary science fiction follows three families over three successive generations, bonded forever by one tragic, violent act. There’s plenty here for Andy Weir fans to enjoy.
Annalee Newitz
If you loved Artemis, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of Annalee Newitz’s Autonomous. Here, a rogue scientist running an underground prescription service for the poor hits a tragic snag when her new drug turns out to have lethal side effects. She needs to set things right, but the rash of deaths may soon grow too big for her to battle alone.
John Scalzi
Weir readers who are new to John Scalzi’s work should begin with Old Man’s War. In this series-starter, humanity has colonized generous swathes of space, but conquering the galaxy is an ongoing battle. The Colonial Defense Force needs soldiers, and they want retirees to serve. At age 75, widower John Perry enlists to fight for kin and country…but he never could have predicted what he’ll encounter on the road ahead.
Nnedi Okorafor
Many of Nnedi Okorafor’s books will appeal to Weir fans. We recommend starting with Binti, a trilogy about an aspiring young student whose spacefaring passage to university is interrupted by hostile alien invaders; Noor, which follows two people wanted by the nation’s corporatocratic rulers for crimes they did not commit, now searching for a place to call home; and Lagoon, the story of three unlikely heroes who may be humanity’s only hope of preventing nuclear war in the aftermath of first contact.
Temi Oh
Temi Oh’s lauded young adult novel, Do You Dream of Terra-Two?, is a must-read for fans of The Martian. The novel follows a small group of teens who set out to explore an earth-like planet discovered only a century before. They go knowing that their journey will last for more than two decades and that none of them will ever return to Earth. Do You Dream of Terra-Two? is an unforgettable story of love, science, and sacrifice.
Tade Thompson
If you enjoyed Artemis and Project Hail Mary, check out Tade Thompson’s Far from the Light of Heaven. Here, a ship carrying 1,000 people to a new life across the stars arrives at its destination 10 years after launch, only to find that nearly one-third of its passengers have been killed en route. This is a space-set thriller that any sci-fi fan is sure to love.
K.B. Wagers
K.B. Wagers’ A Pale Light in the Black opens a series many Weir fans will love. The crew aboard Zuma’s Ghost protects near-Earth space from threats, operating as a futuristic version of the U.S. Coast Guard. An annual competition will give them the chance to save face after a devastating defeat, but the loss of an old comrade — and the entrance of a newcomer — leaves their confidence shaken.
Just as the Zuma’s Ghost crew begins to rebuild their camaraderie, however, a conspiracy targeting someone on board takes hold. The crew’s adventures continue in Hold Fast Through the Fire and The Ghosts of Trappist.
Final Thoughts
Well, folks, now you know the 20 best sci-fi authors like Andy Weir. We hope you enjoy these thrilling reads, and discover your new favorite authors in the process.
FAQs
What book should I read after The Martian?
We recommend diving into one of Weir’s other novels: Artemis or Project Hail Mary.
What genre are Andy Weir’s books?
Andy Weir is best known for his science fiction novels, some of which were adopted or are being adopted into sci-fi movies.
Which sci-fi books did Andy Weir write?
1. The Martian (2011)
2. Artemis (2017)
3. Project Hail Mary (2021)
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